Picket-fence machine



(No Model 2 sheets-sheen 2.

N. E. MORRIS, Jr. Y

- PIGKET FENCE. MACHINE. v No. 574,814. Patented JMS-5, 1897 A ww Il. Ima Lmnulv UNITED STATES PATENT EEtcE.

NATHANE. MORRIS, JR., oEGRASsLAND, TENNESSEE.

PlCKET-FENCE MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 574,814, dated January 5, 1897.

Appiiaiioii filed Apiii 2s, 1896.

To all lli/0111, it 'lumpy/concern,.-

Be it known that I, N ATHAN E. MORRIS, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing in Grassland, Williamson county, Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Picket Fence Machines, of which the following is a specification.

.My invention relates to machines for building picket fences, and more especially to that class of machines by means of which the pickets are woven or bound together by strands, wires, or cables, forming loops in which the said pickets are held vertically.

My objects are to improve this class of machines by providing an apparatus or machine which may be supported cleary of the ground by the wires or cables, upon which the machine may freely travel, and which may be applied to the said wires or cables and removed therefrom, after the said wires or cables have been stretched taut, without necessitating the removal of any part of the apparatus; to provide a steadying device, in connectionl with the wire looping, twisting, or weaving mechanism, which shall be capable of adjusting itself to varying irregularities of the ground over which the fence is built; to provide an adjustable rest or gage-plate for the pickets, in connection with the looping or twisting device, whereby the pickets may be supported and lined up, so as to render the operation of the machine more rapid than heretofore and to secure symmetry'in the construction of the fence; to providcaself-feedingtension device for the wires or cables which shall be capable of ready manipulation to secure the desired tension and to remove any unnecessary twists that may get into the cable behind the twisting mechanism; to provide a machine of the character defined which shall serve not only as a carriage for supporting the pickets as they are carried into position to be bound,

.but which shall act as a ram or driver for driving and forcing the several pickets against the twists or loops which bind the pickets in position, and, finally, to simplify the construction of this class of machines, whereby the operation is rendered more speedy and uniform than heretofore. These objects I accomplish by the mechanism and details thereof, as

Seria No. 589,772. (No modem hereinafter described and claimed, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective View of my invention in operative position. Fig. Q is a vertical sectional view of the twisting mechanism, partly in elevation. Fig. 3 is a perspective detail view of the tension device.

top plan View of a twisterbox- Fig. 5 is a detail side and end view of the same. Fig. is a vertical section on line 6 6, Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is a side and end detail of a guide-box. Fig.

S is a detail of a steadying and guiding disk.

In the drawings, where like characters refer to corresponding parts in all the views, l indicates the posts, to which the wires or cables 2 are attached in sets of two, any convenient n umher of these sets being employed, three being shown in the present instance, and between which wires or cables the pickets 3 are to be woven by my apparatus, which consists, essentially,y of a twisting device A, a stead ying and guiding device B, which serves the purpose of stead yin g and suitably holding the twisting mechanism or loom in proper position upon the cables or wires, and the tension device C for stretching the wires to the proper tension along the posts and for untwisting t-he wires when the same become twisted in the rear of the twister or looper as it operates.

The twisting mechanism or loom consists, essentially, of a suitable supporting-frame, preferably formed of two vertical bars 4, of wrought-iron or other suitable material, between which are secured, by any suitable means, such as by bolts or rivets, the bearing boxes or frames 5, in which are rotatably mounted the twisting heads or disks 6. These twister-heads or loopers each .consists of a disk, in the form preferably shown in Fig. 6, where the body of the disk, though not necessarily, is double concave, surrounded by the peripheral ianges 7, which are adapted to engage with the circular bearings formed by the opening in the frames 5, which carry all the twisters and projecting from the peripheryof the looper disk or head is a series of sprocket-teeth 51, which are confined to travel between the faces of the two plates 8. EX-

tending diametrically of the twister-disk are Fig. 4 is a IOO ` or cables are inserted when the machine is placed in position thereon, the looper or twister disk being turned so that the slot 9 will register with the slot 10 to permit the introduction of the wires therein, as shown in Fig. 2.

Projecting from the faces of the plates S are ribs or beads 11, which are adapted to act as drivers for driving the pickets into position against the preceding loop; and I have shown one set of these ribs on each of the twisterboXes, but it is manifest that it is not absolutely necessary to have such ribs upon all the boxes, as those on the boxes intermediate the lower and upper ones may be dispensed willi, and one rib may be omitted from each box, though it is preferable to provide all boxes with such ribs or beads, so that the driving force may be uniformly distributed upon the picket.

` The loopers or twister-heads are operated by a sprocket driving-chain 12, one run of which is tangent to the teeth on one side of said twister-heads clear of the wires. The other run passes around a drivin g-sprocket 13, bot-h runs passing over the counter gears orsprockets 52. The driving-sprocket is supported upon a supplemental frame or bracket 15,110 the face oi' which driving-sprocket is secured a bevel-gear 1G, meshing with a corresponding bevel-gear 17, mounted upon a shaft 1S, journaled in bearings 19 on the supplemental frame and provided with an operating crank or handle 20. By thus arranging the drivingchain tangent to one side of these sprockettwisters and clear of the wires instead of leading it around said twisters it is kept wholly to one side of the wires or cables, thereby rendering it possible to apply the machine to and remove it from the wires without being compelled to remove or change the position of any of its parts.

In order to press the sprocket-chain 12 into Contact with the looper or twister sprockets and to insure the engagement therewith at all times, I preferably provide a Series of sprocket-wheels 21, mounted between thebars l of the frame, and to take up the slack in the chain I provide a suitable belt or chain tightener, located, preferably, upon the bracket 15, such, for example, as thatv shown in the drawings, which consists of an arm 22, pivotally supported upon the frame 15 and provided with a stud nl., carrying an antifrictionroller projecting into the path of the driving-chain 12, from which arm projects a slotted curved extension 2i, by which thesaid arm may be adjusted in the position desired through the medium of the set-screw 25, passing through the slot in the said curved extension and into the fixed supplemental frame.

Connected to the lower end of the frame A is a rest or gage-plate 26, which is slidably connected to one of the bars t in any suitable manner, such as by means of aslotted standard 27 and a set-screw provided with a flynut 2S, by means of which the plate may be raised and lowered as desired. This plate serves to support the picket upon the machine as it is being driven into place and while the wires are being twisted around the same to secure it in place, thereby insuring the proper alinement of the pickets and the symmetry of the fence.

Attached to the front of the frame A is a chain or other suitable gripj', (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1,) by which the machine may be pulled forward to force the picket into position.

The steadying or guiding device B consists, essentially, of the bearing-boxes 27, slotted at 2Q to allow the wires to be inserted therein, these boxes being composed of two plates 30,provided with annular grooves 31, in which the guiding disks or heads are rotatably mounted. These disks are provided with radial notches 33, through which the wires or cables extend, a bearing-box and disk therein being used for each set of wires, the center one being omitted in Fig. 1 for the purpose of clear illustration. These bearingboxes are pivotally connected to the frame A, preferably to the side of the looper or twister boxes, by means of links 34. By this link connection the steadying device is adapted to accommodate itself to the various irregularities of the ground over which the fence is being built.

The tension device consists of a box 35, closed on one side, provided on one end with a slotted bearing 3G, in which is seated the stem 37 of the self-feeding tension-grip, the end of which siem is provided with a projecting circular head 30, forming a swiveled connection between the box and stem. Projecting from the sides of the stem are the frictiongrips 40, of a common form, over which the wires are passed and held by friction, as shown in the drawings. This swivel connection between the tension-box and the stem permits the removal of any twists in the wire in the rear of the machine. lVhile I have shown the swiveled connection, it is my purpose to include in this construction a balland-socket joint, if desired, the latter of which may be preferable in many instances.

In the rear end of the tension-box are bearing-slots 4:1, in which is mounted a vertical spindle 42, provided with a lower bearing-disk- 43, seated on the bottom of the box, and a ratchet-wheel 44C, with which a suitable pawl 45 is adapted to engage for locking the spindle in the desired position. Around the spindle 42 is secured the end of a tension-wire 4-6, the other end of which is attached to the post 1. By turning the spindle 42 it will be readily seen that any slack in the wires or cables 2 IOO IOS

IIO

-placed upon each set of wires.

may be taken up, and when this is accomplished the tension-box may be iixedly secured to the post by means of a chain 47, passing around the post and having its links engaging projecting studs 48 on the box. The open side of the boX may be closed by a suitable cover 49, tted therein, as shown in Ithe drawings.

`Between the steadying device B and the twisting mechanism A, I preferably place loosely upon each set of wires or cables spreaders 50, consisting of a longitudinal bar a, having T- heads b', provided with notches c for the reception of the wires or cables. These spreaders serve to keep the wires spread apart immediately in rear of the twisting mechanism, thereby facilitating the introduction of the pickets between said Wires or cables.

The operation of my machine is as follows: The wires or cables having been stretched along the posts, a tension device is attached to each set of wires, and the same are then put under the proper tension in the manner hereinbefore described. The machine is then hung in position upon the wires, the llatter passed into the notches of the twisting-sprockets and the guidingdisks of the steadying device alining, as shown in Fig. 1, a spreader being A picket is then quickly placed between the wires, its lower end supported by the rest or gageplate. The machine is then pulled quickly forward by the grip f, thereby forcing the picket into place near the post, where it is bound by turning the hand-crank 20, and thus forming a loop or twist around said picket. The machine is then moved backward and another picket inserted and the operation repeated. The steadying device B during these movements travels freely upon the Wires or cables, thus guiding and steadying the twisting mechanism, the link connection compensating for any irregularities in the ground over whiclrthe machine works, as hereinbefore set forth.

A consideration of the foregoing description of the construction and mode of operation of my invention will disclose certain essential advantages derived from my improvements as compared to machines of like character as heretofore made, which advantages may be recapitulated as follows:

As hereinbefore indicated, the application of my machine to and its ready removal from the wires is rendered exceedingly1 simple and speedy, because the driving-chain is led tangent to one side of the twister-sprockets, and thus never crosses the wires or cables, so that it is not necessary to remove or change any part of the device for this purpose, as is required in other machines of this kind.

The link connection between the twister mechanism and the steadying device enables the machine to adjust itself readily to irregularities in the ground, such as may be foundwhere the fencing is built over hills, ravines, &c.

The adjustable picket-rest permits the lower cable to `be placed as near the lower end of pickets as desired, still preserving the symmetry of the fence.

The introduction of the swivel or ball-andsoeket joint in the tension device makes the removal of any twist in the wires or cables in the rear of the machine of easyV accomplishment, rendering it possible to weave the picketsinto the Wires close up to the tension device, the lat-ter being also constructed so that it may be rigidly secured to the post by an independent connection, such as the chain shown in the drawings; and, finally, the twisting mechanism acts not only as a support for the picket as it is carried into place and secured, but also serves as a ram or driver for driving the picket against the preceding twist separating the individual piekets. Furthermore, the machine is supported clear of the ground solely by the wires, thus dispensing with the tracks for supporting the machine found in most machines of this class, and the wires'are kept apart by the spreaders'loosely mounted thereon and separate from the machine, thus rendering it easy to drop the pickets in place and keep them vertical, all of which advantages contribute to make the machine certain, effective, and rapid in operation.

Of course any number of twists may be made in the wires or cables between the pickets as desired, but it is preferable to limit the number, so as to bring the pickets close together, and changes may be made in the details of construction for effecting the specific novel results hereinbefore pointed out without departing from the spirit of my invention7 which is here disclosed in its preferred form.

I claim as my invention- A l. In a picket-fence machine, a twisting mechanism having a frame adapted to be supported by the wires and carrying twisters for the sets of Wires, each of said twisters having sprockets, a sprocket driving-chain running tangent to one side of the sprockets on the twisters and clear of the wires, with means of operating said driving-chain, and a series of sprocket-wheels arranged at intervals on the frame to press the chain into contact with the twister-sprockets, substantially as described.

2. Ina picket-fence machine, a twisting mechanism adapted to be freely supported upon the Wires, consisting of a supportingframe, twister-heads for the sets of wires carried by said frame, driving mechanism for said heads operating clear of the wires on one side, a gage-plate or rest vertically adjustable upon the frame for supporting the picket, said frame being adapted for driving the pickets into place as the machine is moved forward,

j substantially as described.

er-heads provided with peripheral notches for IOO IIO

the reception of the Wires and carried by said supporting-frame, mechanism for driving said heads, and a steadying device consisting of a supporting-frame having a link connection with the twisting mechanism, and guiding disk's or heads provided With peripheral notches for the reception of the Wires and rotatably mounted in bearings on the said frame, substantially as described.

4. The herein-described tension device for picket-fence machines, consisting of a box provided with a spindlebearing, a spindle mounted thereon, a tension-Wire passing around said spindle and secured to a post, and a tensiongrip having a swiveled connection with said box, substantially as described.

5. The herein-described tension device for picket-fence machines, consisting of a box provided With a slotted bearing at its front end, a tension-grip having a swiveled connection with said box, a vertical spindle mounted therein, and a tension-wire passing around said spindle and secured to a post, substantially as described.

6. The herein-described tension device for picket-fence machines, consisting of a box, a spindle vertically mounted therein, a tensionwire havingone end secured to said spindle and the other end to a post, and a tensionlgrip over Which the Wires of the fence pass and are gripped byfriction and having a swiv eled connection with the box, With means for iixedly securing the box to a post, substantially as described.

7. In a picketfence machine, a tension device consisting of a box provided with a slotted bearing at one end, a stem provided With a circular head near one end and journaled in the slotted bearing of the box, with proj ections at each side of said stem, forming friction tension-grips over which the Wires are passed and held by friction, and means for securing the said box to a post, substantially as described.

8. The herein-described tension device for picket-fence machines, consisting of a box, a friction-grip for the wires connected to the box by a swivel connection, a spindle provided With a disk at its lower end resting on the bottom of the box, and a ratchet-Wheel adjacent to the top of the box, a paivl engaging with said ratchet-Wheel, and a tension- Wire connected to the spindle at one end and secured to a post, substantially as described.

9. The herein-described tension device for picket-fence machines, consisting of a box provided with a bearing at its front end, a tension-grip seated in said bearing and held to the box by a siviveled connection, a vertical spindle mounted on the other end of the box, a Wire connected at one end to the spindie and at the other end to a fixed post, projecting studs on the box, and a chain adapted to pass around the post and connected with the studs on the box, to hold the said device in a fixed position, substantially as described.

l0. In a picket-fence machine, the combination of a supporting-frame, twister-heads carried thereby and provided with peripheral sprocket-teeth, a supplemental frame or bracket projecting from said supportingframe, a driving-gear mounted thereon, and means for rotating the said gear, counter-gears on said supporting-frame, a driving-chain passing around the driving and counter gears with one run tangent to one side of the twisten heads and engaging the sprocket-teeth'at that side, and sprocket-Wheels mounted on said frame and arranged to press the said chain in contact with the twister-heads substantially as described.

l1. In a picket-fence machine, the combination of the supporting-frame, twister-heads carried thereby, a bracket on said frame, aV

driving-gear mounted on said bracket, with means for operating said gear, a driving-chain passing around said drivin g-gear, one run oi' which is tangent to the twister-heads on one side thereof, and a series of sprockets mounted on the supporting-frame and engaging the driving-chain to press it into contact with the twister-heads, substantially as described.

l2. In a picket-fence machine, the combina" tion of a su pporting-frame, twister-heads car ried thereb f a driving-chain with means for IOO 

